Will sweetening the birds seed with sugar water affect the popularity of the seed? I have two identical bird feeders that I will fill but one with presoaked seed (in sugar water) and see which one empties first. Then I will see if there are any birds that favored one or the other type of seed.
Hypothesis: yes they will like it more because it will be sweet and taste more like a flower, making them more inclined to eat it because on the naturey taste.
Tools Needed: sugar water, two bird feeders, bird seed, an oven preheated to 300 degrees.
Notes: I had some trouble getting the sweet seed to not be sticky but eventually I left my oven on prof all night and it dried out. I put the feeders out at 4:52 pm on Tuesday, 10/6/15, and the non sweet one emptied (post switch(see below))at 7:43 in Tuesday, 10/13/15. The sweet one was still mostly full when I took it down.
Procedure:
1) Soak enough seed to fill your bird feeder in sweet water 2) Bake both soaked seed and an equal amount of normal seed in an oven at 300 degrees 3)Fill your bird feeders 4) Check each day and look for issues Problem: In my case, one of the feeders started to lose a ton of seed (see above) and so I thought that maybe something beside birds (maybe a raccoon, because it is close to my deck) got into it. solution: Moving the feeders so that they are swapped (see below)
The birds loved the unsweetened seed and hated the sweet seed even after the switching of the places! (see above) My prediction was not supported and I think that it was because of the sweet coating making it hard to eat.
Alternate hypothesis: The birds like the unsweetened seed because of the sweet being hard and sticky, making it less appealing.
Will sweetening the birds seed with sugar water affect the popularity of the seed?
I have two identical bird feeders that I will fill but one with presoaked seed (in sugar water) and see which one empties first.
Then I will see if there are any birds that favored one or the other type of seed.
Hypothesis: yes they will like it more because it will be sweet and taste more like a flower, making them more inclined to eat it because on the naturey taste.
Tools Needed: sugar water, two bird feeders, bird seed, an oven preheated to 300 degrees.
Notes: I had some trouble getting the sweet seed to not be sticky but eventually I left my oven on prof all night and it dried out.
I put the feeders out at 4:52 pm on Tuesday, 10/6/15, and the non sweet one emptied (post switch(see below))at 7:43 in Tuesday, 10/13/15. The sweet one was still mostly full when I took it down.
Procedure:
1) Soak enough seed to fill your bird feeder in sweet water2) Bake both soaked seed and an equal amount of normal seed in an oven at 300 degrees
3)Fill your bird feeders
4) Check each day and look for issues
Problem: In my case, one of the feeders started to lose a ton of seed (see above) and so I thought that maybe something beside birds (maybe a raccoon, because it is close to my deck) got into it.
solution: Moving the feeders so that they are swapped (see below)
The birds loved the unsweetened seed and hated the sweet seed even after the switching of the places! (see above) My prediction was not supported and I think that it was because of the sweet coating making it hard to eat.
Alternate hypothesis: The birds like the unsweetened seed because of the sweet being hard and sticky, making it less appealing.
bibliography:
Me Myself and I!
oh and this site:
"Project Beak: Adaptations: Senses." Project Beak: Adaptations: Senses. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. <http://projectbeak.org/adaptations/senses.htm>.